A 10-year-old who volunteers at a care home, is a Dementia Friend and has saved up pocket money to buy clothes and toiletries for the homeless is this year’s Young Citizen of the Year.

Teigan Hewitt was presented with her glass trophy and certificate at the Mayor’s Community Awards 2019 at Redbridge Town Hall on Thursday, March 14.

The Young Citizen Award is run by the Ilford Recorder in conjunction with Redbridge Rotary Club and sponsored by The Exchange shopping centre in Ilford. It aims to highlight the good things being done in the borough by people under 25.

Each year the overall winner and the runner-up go through to the national Young Citizens final run by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.

This year’s runner-up is Nicole Constantinou, who prevented a mugging outside the Cookies and Cream shop in Barkingside where she works.

Teigan, who lives in Rainham, volunteers at the Chadwell House Residential Care Home in Chadwell Heath, where her great-nan Sarah Cook lives.

Teigan said: “I am a young volunteer. I talk to the residents and play board games with them. I organise activities and help the staff.

My aunt Keely encouraged me to get involved.”

She raised more than £1,000 for the home by running a tombola. She said: “I love visiting Chadwell House. “have seen how much everyone enjoys the activities in the home so wanted to support that – they take part in musical bingo and singing for the brain, it’s a lot of fun and important too.”

Teigan said in the past she used pocket money to buy things for rough sleepers through the charity Friends of Essex & London Homeless.

She wants to be a paediatric nurse when she leaves school.

Mum Sarah Attawia said: “She has always had a big heart. Caring is in her nature.”

It also runs in the family. Sarah works with adults with special needs.

Of winning the Young Citizen award Teigan said: “I’m really happy - my friends are really happy that I won.”

She is a pupil at La Salette Catholic Primary School in Rainham and was nominated for the Young Citizen award by Tracey Skinner, the care home’s activities leader.

Nicole was chosen as runner-up for stepping in when a schoolboy was being mugged by two teenagers. She pushed one of the muggers away and took the boy to another shop where the owners forced the robbers to hand back the boy’s phone.